Mussel of the Month

The November 2015 Mussel of the Month is Nephritca poeyana. Nephritica is a Mesoamerican genus of two species.

USNM 85894. Rio de las Baisas, near Coyucan, Mexico; Poey! [type]

As ever, when times are busy we turn to Mesoamerican species for the Mussel of the Month. The less there is to contribute the less we have to write!

So here comes Nephtritica poeyana to save the day. Nephritica is a genus without any distinguishing features except that Frierson (1927) created it without description for N. poeyana and N. haricotti. Haas (1969) followed Frierson's lead, providing a vague shell description but noticing no diagnostic characteristics. Then we (Graf & Cummings, 2007) followed Haas, and here we are now. 5 museum lots, two species barely known from other than the types. Somebody really should work up those Mesoamerican mussels...